


The Werewolves of Stark Tower

by Analiila



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Death, Gen, Magic, Major characters death, Werewolves, curse, enclosed space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 02:39:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5230721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Analiila/pseuds/Analiila
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers have always been used to be facing unusual situations. But when a curse is cast upon the Stark Tower, locking them in and forcing them to play a deadly game, it's more than they've ever lived. After Ultron, not all of them were totally trusting but that situation might be the one that will disassemble the team. Werewolves are free, angry and running through the tower and they need to get rid of them before they all got eaten. Only problem : which one of them are the wolves ? Friendship is over and not all of them will survive the experience.</p><p>/IRREGULAR UPDATES\</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Book

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! First fiction in english, I have to admit I'm a little nervous. This work has been inspired by the card and role game you might know as Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (French name : Loups-Garous de Thiercelieux) that was itself inspired by the game Mafia. Don't worry if you don't know the rules, I explained them in Chap 1 (which is more like a prologue). I really hop you're gonna like it!
> 
> Also I wanted to thank ineffablesheep that has corrected that chapter and is currently working on the next ones, but also skyfallat221B (@spectralarcher on Tumblr) who gave me the advices I needed to dare starting to write in english. 
> 
> I'm not sure if there's gonna be any violence or really explicit death but I put the warnings just in case, I'll tell you if I think there is a need to warn you.
> 
> I don't have anything else to say except that, once again, I hope you'll enjoy.

It started with words.

It always started with words. Words were the essence of creation itself. Every stories are made of words. They start with a word and end with a word. There are billions of trillions of words. Sweet words and harsh words. Simple words and complicated words. Words of hatred and words of love. Words we use every day and words we no longer use. But no matter the word, no matter the sentence it ends up in, it always has a common point with the others. Words are powerful. And words are dangerous.

“What's that book, Phil?”

It started with two men.

“I'm not sure. My team found it very recently. I'd like to consult Thor but I thought you could take a look first.”

It started with a book.

“I'll see what I can do but I can't promise I'll find something. The book seems really old and really fragile.”  
“I know but you can never be too careful.” Phil vaguely mumbled. “Do you want me to ask...”  
“No.” The second man interrupted. “They'll think I'm repeating the Ultron situation all over again. Let them where they are. They don't need to know. It's just some researches.”  
“Right. Some researches.”

* * *

Steve knew something was wrong. He had learned to feel those kinds of things, almost developing a sort of spider-sense. Maybe it was the war, maybe it was the Avengers. But something had taught him to worry. His gaze scanned the room. There was a kind of bad smell in here, but he didn't know where it came from. For a moment, he thought about asking J.A.R.V.I.S. to scan the entire building. The night had fallen and employees were gone, only the Avengers and a few of their friends remained. He didn't ask. There wasn't a J.A.R.V.I.S. anymore. He was gone and had left his place to F.R.I.D.A.Y., Stark's new AI Steve didn't trust that much yet. Yet, he liked to do a bit of surveying to be sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

The Tower had just been finished. Ultron's attack had left it in a really bad state that had brought the New Avengers to different and new headquarters. But Stark loved his tower. He loved the way it overlooked New York. He loved being seen far horizons. So he renovated it.

If they were all here, it was because they were invited to a party celebrating the end of the renovations. Yet, it was nothing like Stark's usual parties. There was no one but them. By them he meant original Avengers and new ones. Natasha and Clint were sitting on of the soft sofas. Clint, as the proud father he was, was going in ecstasies over photos of little Nathaniel. Even though the Russian spy was pretending not to care, Steve saw the glitters that shined in her eyes and that proved she loved the Barton family as much as if it had been her own. Sam wasn't far from them, joking and playing billiards with Rhodes. Sam was telling some story that made the soldier laugh, even though Steve found him a little on the edge. Thor, Wanda and Vision were talking about who-knows-what in another part of the room. Well, Thor was doing the talking and the other two were listening to that bottomless pit of asgardians words and stories. The young Darcy Lewis was annoying Doctor Banner, who had came back recently after a moment of reflection away from everything. Steve didn't really know what Ms. Lewis was doing here, actually. He knew she was friends with Thor but didn't think it was enough for him to bring her to one of their Avengers parties.

“And here he comes. Steve Rogers, the man who worried his whole life.”

He turned over to face Maria Hill. Even though she wasn't officially an Avenger, every member of the team considered her as one. She was the one who linked them to S.H.I.E.L.D. and who supervised every single one of their trainings and missions. If Steve was the leader and Natasha his right-hand-woman, Maria was their anchor to the rest of the world, always there to help them, keeping a fresh mind and remembering there was a whole world behind the Avengers. Sometimes, she even went with them on missions, she's been trained for such things after all.

“You can relax, Steve.” she said as she approached the guardrail he was leaning on. “We're having a little party, just between us. Nothing can go wrong.”  
“Just as nothing went wrong with Ultron, last time?” he replied, bitter.  
“Point taken.”

She was then the one who looked at the room. From the little walkway, you could see all of it. Maria frowned. She realized too something wasn't as usual. Something about how many people were present.

“Where's Stark?” she asked.  
“Exactly. We're in his tower, at one of his parties. He likes that kind of thing. And yet, no Tony to be seen.”  
“Then, where is he?”

Almost as if it was trying to answer, the tower started to shake.

* * *

Five minutes. Five minute was what it took for the tower to stop shaking. At some point in those five minutes, a light appeared a few floors lower. It went up to their floor and all of them were suddenly blinded. By the time they could open their eyes again, the floor didn't move anymore. Natasha had taken a gun, Thor had his hammer in his hand and Vision had passed his hand through the wall to scan the tower through F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s circuits. But Steve didn't need him to scan to know what was going on. He hurtles down the stairs to the lab. Tony was there, quite dizzy and before an open book. Steve put a quick look at it but didn't recognize the language, at least not entirely. He recognized at some point french words as he understood the language but the other words weren't from the same language. He rather turned around to face Stark who was slowly recovering.

“You're planning to do that at every party we're gonna have?” he yelled.  
“Steve, I...”  
“No, Tony! Last time we got Ultron. What will it be today? What is that book?”

The others had came down too, both worried and curious. None of them wanted the Ultron situation to repeat itself but they feared it was what was coming. Thor approached to see the book. He looked at the cover and his blood froze in his veins. He had seen this book in the past. Quickly, his hand found Tony's neck to lift him as if he was as light as a feather.

“Where did you got that book, Stark?” he shout. “Where did you found it?!”  
“What is it, Thor?” Natasha asked.  
“It once belonged to Loki. It is a book of black magic, any of his words is more dangerous than a thousand of swords. I though my father Odin got it back and sent it to a place where no one must ever find it but...”  
“It was Phil! Phil gave it to me!”

The silence settled a few minutes as they all started to think. Of course, they knew Phil Coulson was alive. It was part of the information Natasha had dropped on the internet the day the Triskelion had felt. They didn't see it on the moment, it was only after, when Stark gathered the data, that they discovered it. Maria had told them everything and they started to contact the now Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. They knew he was elsewhere with his team.

“Director Phillip Coulson is in the building.” Vison announced. “Do you want us to...”  
“Phil would not do that.” Maria interrupted him. “I know him. You know him. That's not like Phil. He would certainly not give a book of unknown origins to Tony like that. He would first get agents FitzSimmons to examine it. Then he would have called Thor or Lady Sif as he would have guessed the book was ancient and might be asgardian. But under no circumstances he would have gave it to you to examine it without being absolutely certain it was safe!”  
“She's totally right. That and the fact I have never seen that book in my whole life.”

Phillip Coulson had appeared on the other side of the lab, probably coming from the other stairs. He was leading a little group composed of Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, a very pissed Pepper Potts and, to everyone but mainly Banner's surprise, Betty Ross. If Thor was happy to see his loved one here, Bruce was suddenly embarrassed and Tony was somewhere between shame and fear.

“Anthony Edward Stark.” The Stark Inc. CEO started to say with a surprisingly calm voice. “What the hell have you done this time?”  
“Pepper I'm sorry, I...”  
“I don't want apologies. I want to know why you thought it was a good idea to play with cursed books while I was having a meeting with two eminent scientist to sign a partnership for the enterprise that, if you remember, is yours.”  
“I didn't know you were there.”  
“Yes, because when I'm here you're not dumb. What have you done, Tony?”

The billionaire looked at her with big eyes. What had he done? It wasn't an easy question. The truth is, he was bored. But he can't say that to her, can he? He can't say his genius-level brain was bored and he needed something exciting to wake him up. So he says something else, something that is not totally a lie.

“I don't know.”

Pepper crossed her arms. He was about to say something but Wanda spoke before her:

“I do.”

She dragged everyone's attention on her. Wanda wasn't the most talkative of the Avengers, especially since her brother died. When she opened the mouth, it was always to say something clever or relevant, to point out things the others had missed. She saw many things the others couldn't. She had learned why when she had first met the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange. Part of her gifts were not created be Hydra but had been awaken when she had been modified. She was a witch, a real witch with the gift of magic.

“Tony has cast a spell, a very powerful one. From the energy I feel, I'd say it was a curse. I can feel it in every single one of us but also in the walls of the Tower. The whole building is cursed. Now the only remaining question is: what spell did he cast?”

The book now seemed to be the center of the room's attention. The Scarlet Witch approached from it. With many precautions, she took it in her hands. The words changed to appear to her in a modern English and she started to read.

* * *

Once upon a time, a little French village was struck by a curse. Thiercelieux, the french people called it but but there were few who knew that village even existed. It was so little it only counted 32 inhabitants. Yet, France soon learned about that cursed town where every ten years terrible events occurred. No one ever wanted to step within the borders of the village. They were too afraid to become part of the curse. It doesn't exist anymore as there are no more inhabitants, but its curse remains.

I created that curse. I punished Thiercelieux. I have seen them suffer. I have seen them die. Even when I died, my curse remained. If you read that, it means you have been struck by my curse. For now on, you will live by my rules.

Every single one of you have now a role in my little game. Whatever power you could have had before, they are now gone or weakened. The berserk is now cured. The god can barely hold his mighty powers. The sorceress can only translate my words. And the synthetic is now fully human.

For now on you will have the powers of your new nature, your inner nature. The composition of your own version of the curse includes:

• Five werewolves who each night will try to eat any of the others and that you must eliminate in order for the villagers to survive.  
• One witch who possess two potions, one can save a life, the other can take one. She must chose wisely for her true purpose is to survive alongside the other villagers.  
• One seer who can unveil the inner nature of one other person each night but must remain unknown to the werewolves, or she must die  
• One Cupid who must designate two lovers out of the whole group. He then will lose his power but the two lovers will be together forever, as one cannot live without the other.  
• One hunter who at the dawn of his death can bring with him the life of another he think is the enemy.  
• One savior who each night will chose one person he wants to be safe from the werewolves, but never two following nights the same person, for everyone must have a chance to be killed by the werewolves  
• One scapegoat who, if the villagers cannot decide who they want to kill that day, will be sacrificed instead.  
• One Ancient who, being a wise man, can escape the werewolves the first time but must not be killed by his fellow villagers or they will lose their powers  
• One raven who each night chooses the person he suspects, to give him his own curse: two more votes for the next day.  
• Two siblings who don't have any power but know each other, being then sure the other is not a werewolf.  
• One wild child who doesn't know much of the life in the village but choose a role model. Beware, villagers, for killing his role model would turn him into a werewolf.  
• One Pied Piper, whose music will charm two villagers per night, and who wants to charm them all, only to kill them at the end as a punishment for their behavior.  
• Four villagers, simple men and women, who can, to save their lives, only choose who they think is a werewolf to lynch them

The only way to end the curse is to eliminate all the villagers or all the werewolves. You cannot hope to make it alive together. You must fight to survive, werewolves by eating at night, villagers by lynching during day. Each vote is worth 1, except for the chief's one which's worth1.5. You must elect that chief today.

You must not let anyone else enter the cursed place or they will join the game as werewolves or villagers.

You must not leave the cursed place or you shall face punishment.

You must not reveal your inner nature to someone else or you shall face punishment.

The following pages contain the list of the cursed ones.

* * *

Wanda's voice faded, as did any sound in the room. She took a chair to sit down, her breathing was difficult. Betty Ross was the first to dare speaking.

“So what? We're trapped? We must stay here and wait to die? You can do something, right?”  
“No we can't.” Wanda replied with a broken voice. “The spell has been cast. Only a powerful magic can undo it and even if I still had my powers I don't know if I am powerful enough.”  
“What about Stephen?” Maria asked. “He's the Sorcerer Supreme, he has to be powerful enough.”  
“Didn't you hear what she said? If he enters the tower, he will be part of the game and lose his powers too.” Jane Foster pointed out.  
“We're on our own, then?” concluded Clint.

The silence that followed was a better answer than any other. Yes, they were. They were trapped in the tower, convicted to kill each other. Tony suddenly woke up.

“Who's on the list? We need to know that. Maybe Pepper and the other girls aren't in it, they have nothing special!”  
“I'll show you my none-specialness by punching you with all the Nobel nomination I have, genius.” Jane Foster replied, pissed by the remark. She wasn't a super-hero like them, but Pepper, Betty and her were not everyone either.  
“The point is...” Banner tried to calm down everyone “Protective boyfriend don't want girlfriend to be in that stupid game.”  
“Maybe he should have thought about that before casting the fucking curse!” Pepper harshly replied, now deeply furious.

Phil interrupted the argument by asking Wanda :

“Who's in that list?”

The younger avenger turned the page. She didn't want to read the names, she knew what she was gonna find in it wouldn't please her. She had already felt the death of her brother, she didn't want to feel like that, never again. But she started to read it.

“Anthony Edward Stark.”

The engineer lowers his head. He was the one who cast the spell. If he was in the list, there was no reason Pepper wasn't. He felt so guilty now that she was in danger. Maybe it's selfish, but when there had been the Ultron situation he didn't feel the same as she wasn't in immediate danger. She was one of the few things he cared about. The fact he was putting her in danger like this was breaking his heart but he had no one to blame but himself.

“Nicholas Joseph Fury.”  
“Wait.” Steve interrupted. “Nick is here?”  
“When is he not ?” Natasha asked with a little smile.  
“In fact, Agent Romanoff. When am I not?”

Fury had come behind the Avengers, unnoticed before. He looked calm, as if he wasn't part of a deadly curse. With the head, he made a sign to encourage Wanda to continue.

“Philipp Riley Coulson.”

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. nodded. He was expecting it. As he was expecting everyone in the room to be part of the curse too, but he didn't say anything, some of them needed hope.

“Maria Christina Hill.”

The agent's lips were nothing but a thin line. She expected it too but she still hoped she wouldn't be part of it. But it looks like hanging out with the Avengers really put you in great danger. She had been trained to face many things but magic spells weren't part of the training. The only thing she knew was that she was ready to fight for her life if she had too.

“Steven Grant Rogers.”

The captain clenched his fists. For a moment he considered punching Tony in the face. But it would not help, it was too late. Still, it was his fault. Steve wasn't a violent man but Tony knew how to piss him off. But of course Tony couldn't know he wanted to leave the next week to search for Bucky with Sam. And now he was trapped in that stupid game and he couldn't do anything about that. Except maybe survive? Yes. If he survived he might be able to find his Bucky and finally help him as he would have done so long before.

“Robert Bruce Banner.”

It was so strange to Bruce to feel so pissed of. He had been on the edge the whole evening and yet he hadn't turn green. Maybe what was written in the book about the berserk was about him. He didn't feel the Hulk inside him as it had been the case for so many years. Yet he was mad. Mad at Natasha who hadn't talked to him since he came back, mad at Betty who didn't tried to tell him she was at the Avengers Tower tonight, mad at Tony who put them into such a situation. He always thought not having the Hulk would make him at peace. But in contrary, there was no monster to help him regulate his anger and for the first time in forever, he felt it hitting him with full force.

“Thor Odinson.”

Thor was pissed but he was mostly worried. How did the book came in the hands of Stark if the son of Coul didn't give it to him? The book had once belonged to Loki. Was it him who found it and used it against them? Was it another of his tricks? It was deeply possible but Thor couldn't believe it. His brother was dead, he saw him die right in his arms. Was it possible his brother survived? He hoped so but at the same time he hoped he was dead. Loki had died a hero. He hoped he had not come back to live as a villain.

“Virginia Patricia Potts.”  
“No!”

Tony's eyes were wide open. That was it. He had done it. He condemned Pepper to be part of a deadly game, to risk her life. She wasn't a warrior or a hero. The only weapon she had was her strong will. But would it be enough? It clearly won't prevent the werewolves from eating her if they wanted. Tony walked to her to hold her in his arms. Pepper thought about refusing that hug but she didn't really want to. That life wasn't for her, that's why she had asked for the Extremis serum to be totally removed from her body. Being in the middle of it scared the hell out of her. Even though she knows she will try to be strong.

“I'm so sorry, Peps.” Tony whispered.  
“I know.” She replied and it was all Tony needed.  
“Elizabeth Karen Ross.”

Betty didn't say a word. She had nothing to say. She had come to the Tower only to talk with Ms. Potts and Dr. Foster about a collaboration. Deep down, she had hoped she would see Bruce. She hadn't had any news from him since he left her in Harlem five years ago. She was used to that, the last time he had disappeared for four years. But this time has been different, she didn't find a new man. She was expecting him. She has been surprised to see him with the Avengers but she took that for a good sign. Yet, she still hadn't had any news. And now she regretted it. She had been warned by Pepper that he had fallen in love with the Black Widow and now she was trapped in that game. Her eyes settled on the book. Maybe... Maybe she wasn't trapped. Maybe she could find a solution with her science. Yes, after all, magic is only the science human haven't understood yet. So she hoped. That's what she was the best at. Hope.

“Natalia Alianovna Romanova.”

No reaction from the Black Widow. It was just a game. A deadly game. She had played many deadly games during her time in the Red Room. It was just one more. The difference is that this time it included friends, people she has learned to love. One more sacrifice. She tries to convince herself she will not do it, she will not be the one who will kill her friends. She has changed since the KGB. But she knows she'll do it. She has been trained for that, raised for that. At the end, she will always be a Black Widow.

“Clinton Francis Barton.”

The only thing he can think of is the farm. The farm and the family he has left there. For a moment he feel relieve. It was supposed to be just a party. He had thought about bringing Laura and the kids. Now he knows he did good not to ask. The curse wouldn't have cared for the age. Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel... They would have been cursed too, they would have had to kill or to be killed. But his family is safe. He just have to survive to see them again. He can do that. It would mean killing some of his teammates but right now, after all he have been through, after stopping his job as a spy to be with them, the only thing he can think of is to survive and return to them.

“Jane Natalie Foster.”

There was no reason she was left aside. Especially if the book had something to do with Loki. Since she met Thor she had been in more trouble than a normal human would have. But it's also those troubles which had finally helped her gaining the will she missed to become a great scientist. So maybe the bad really came with a little of good. Who knows? If she survived, and she was ready to fight to survive, something better might emerge from that.

“Erik Alexander Selvig.”

Here it was again. Once again, he was in trouble. He had already done his part, he thought. He had been controlled by the god of mischief and suffered so much from PTSD he had started to believe himself crazy. He wasn't cut out for that. He was always happy to learn, happy to discover new things but this... this was too much. That kind of situation was the one where friendship is the most important. He's friends only with Thor, Jane and Darcy, and he knows he's not the most important in the group. He might be one of the first to disappear from the chessboard.

“Darcy Carol Lewis.”

Laughing. Yeah, that's the very first reaction she has. Maybe not the most appropriate in that situation but she can't help herself. She doesn't think it's funny, she's nervous and scared. Who would have think that shooting a guy with a taser would have led to this? She's just a student in politics who happened to only find an internship as assistant of an astrophysicist. Yes, she's been chosen to stay with her but now ? Now her life is in danger and she know she might not be among the survivors. A little away from her, Wanda turned the page and bite her lips when she saw the next villager.

“Pietro Django Maximoff.”  
“Excuse me, what?”

Clint isn't the only one to be surprised but he's the one who talks louder. Wanda starts to cry. Now isn't the good time for the news. She isn't ready, she was gonna spare them a little and slowly let the idea come into their mind with some subtext. But no time for the subtext, isn't it? They have to learn it now, without being prepared to the news.

“Pietro is dead. I saw him die, he can't be in the game if he's dead.” Hawkeye stated.  
“I brought him back.” Wanda's voice was uncertain. “Doctor Strange told me it was dangerous and forbidden but I did it. He's still weak, that's why I hadn't told you yet. I brought him with me today so if something's wrong I can go to him quickly.”  
“You humans are the dumbest race of the whole galaxy.”

No one refuted Thor's statement. All of them understand that many of them did something wrong at some point but bringing back the dead is probably one of the worst. Agent Hill put a hand on Wanda's shoulder. She helped bring Phil back. She knew what it felt to realize it wasn't such a great idea.

“Who's next?”  
“Wanda Marya Maximoff.”

Of course, she knew it. She's lost her powers, so it obviously meant she was gonna be part of the curse. A curse where she might be supposed to kill her own brother. But she won't. No matter if Pietro is a werewolf, she'll do whatever she need to protect him. She's not gonna lose him once again.

“James Buchanan Barnes.”

The sound of metal falling on the ground resonate in the room. Pale as death, Captain America has dropped his shield. He wasn't aware Bucky was in the tower. He was planning to look after him after the party but Bucky had been here the whole time?

“Stark!”  
“It's totally not me, I swear to god I didn't find him!”  
“I did.” Maria's voice echoes.

Steve turned around. Maria had a poker face, he's not able to read anything in her eyes. For a moment, he felt relief. Maria was an ally and a friend. She helped them put the three helicarriers down, she knew how he felt about Bucky and she knew Bucky needed help. He'd rather see her find him than Hydra or Stark. But still, he felt betrayed.

“Why didn't you tell me?” he simply asked.  
“He isn't ready to see you. He's broken, you know, and he hates himself. He doesn't feel like he's worthy to talk to you. I've put on of my agents with him, someone I have great faith in.”

Steve felt down. Bucky refused to see him. He had a so low self-esteem he thought not to be worthy to see his childhood friend. That's exactly why Steve wanted to be the first to find him, to help him not to feel so bad.

“Who's the agent?”  
“Sharon Katherine Carter.” Wanda replied as she was listed on the next page.  
“Really Maria? Really? Sharon Carter?” The Captain was skeptical.  
“She knows every single one of Peggy's stories. She heard them when she was younger. She knows you and Bucky better than any other agent. And because she knows who Bucky has been, but has not known him as anything else than the broken man he is, I thought she was the best person to keep an eye on Bucky. She really helps him, with her he has made big progress.”

Steve wasn't convinced but he trusted Maria. If she said Bucky was going better thanks to agent Carter, then he believed her. But he was gonna pay a visit to his old friend, that's for sure.

“Samuel Thomas Wilson.”

It wasn't usual for Sam to be silent but since the earthquake he hadn't said a word. Was it always like this, being an Avenger? It was really new for him, maybe even more so than for the others. Since he'd met Captain America, his life had totally changed. Now he was in danger again, but this time they were a whole team. He was sure they'd figure something out. But would it be on time? Or would some of them die before they found a solution? He was suddenly afraid, but strangely he wasn't afraid for himself. He was afraid for Steve, for Natasha, for Maria and for Bucky. He was afraid to see them die. None of them had really had time to live, between the missions and their trauma. None of them had had a real life outside work. And Sam wanted them to live. Even if it meant he had to die. As always, Sam thought about the others before himself.

“Vision.” Wanda continued, now almost unshakeable.

The synthozoid didn't say anything as it was logical and the book had already stated it by saying he was now human. He didn't feel very human, maybe because he was so advanced he already almost was. What he was thinking wasn't about his fate. It was about another avenger, the one who hadn't been named yet. Wanda turned the page to see there was only one person left.

“Loki Laufeyson.”

Once again, silence fell. Thor had told them Loki was dead, which had been confirmed by Jane when S.H.I.E.L.D. had interrogated her. It appeared that he wasn't. That's the moment Vision chose to share what he had noticed.

“You haven't been named, lieutenant colonel.”

Rhodes stepped back a little. He was the only one in the room, in the whole tower, who hadn't been named by the Scarlet Witch. It didn't take long for the others to understand what it implied. Thor grabbed the soldier's vest.

“Loki, it is you, isn't it? You were dead, how did you...?”  
“I was dead? You didn't even checked, brother. I just had to stop breathing and close my eyes, I didn't even have to cast a spell to seem really dead. You just assumed I was.” Rhodes answered. He tried to repulse his adopted brother with his magic but he couldn't.  
“Your magic is gone, just as mine.” Wanda remarked as she had understood what he was trying to do. “You're trapped with us. I guess we know who's gonna be the first lynched.”  
“Already in the game, little witch? Be careful, if I'm not a werewolf you might put a target on your forehead.”

Wanda immediately shut up. He's not wrong. From now on, everything they say can be held against them. Every single word wan be interpreted as a proof you are the enemy. They must watch their mouths, now.

“Now, you understand. I don't care about being in the game. As far as I can see, your little group is already tearing itself apart. But don't be in too much of a hurry. Today we elect the chief. The game will now begin.”

At this exact moment, it hit them. Their true nature, their role in the game... They are now aware of what they are. They realize it but at the same time it's as if they had always known. Something had led them to that nature. Maybe they wouldn't have had the same one if the game had occurred sooner or later. But on that day, the nature they had made sense.

And so it started.

It started with words.

It started with a curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More informations about the original game can be found on google. You can also ask me questions about it if you wanna know more about the playable versions (please don't really kill your friends while playing at it, I'm sure I'd loose that trial).
> 
> Next update will come someday but I don't know when. I'm terrible when it comes to regular updates so I rather tell you now that it can take some time. Both me and my beta are long to do things (Can we say we're turtle sisters ?) and we don't want to give you false hope about updates. Just know we're doing our best to do it the quicker and the better.
> 
> Don't hesitate to give some feedbacks and especially make guesses about the character's inner nature. The number of people being write might interfere in their chances to live ;) You can also contact me on Tumblr under @Lunatic-Analiila (even though I'm thinking about being just Analiila as I am here).
> 
> See you next time !


	2. The chief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curse has been cast and there seems to be no way to stop it. They're now twenty-one persons trapped on their own in the Tower and it's already time to take a big decision. Who's going to have an advantage? Will their choice have big consequences? Will they make the right choice? They've never been in such a situation before and the danger is everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> I took quite some times to post the sequel but I'm not entierly done with chapter 4. Buuuut, as my finals are now over, I felt the need to post that chapter because hey, it's gonna be christmas soon! 
> 
> Thanks again to ineffablesheep who's now called Reservoir Dags and still is my beta. You'd just understand nothing without her.
> 
> As we're starting to enter into the story, I must warn you that the chapter contains the first death and that from now on, there will me one, two or three each chapter. I'm trying not to describe it too much but I can't avoid some things so please make sure my fic is safe for you, I'd feel bad to make you inconfortable.
> 
> If it's totally safe and all, I hope you'll enjoy it!

They were all standing in circle, looking each other in the eyes. Loki was right. The game had started and they all knew it. As soon as their inner nature had been revealed to them, something had changed. Not everyone was absolutely ready to do everything to win but they were all conscious that their lives were in danger. If the villagers might not want to kill, it was in the werewolves' nature. Not lynching someone at some point would mean giving them the advantage to kill someone else more easily. They had to do something to prevent that. But that would mean sacrificing someone who might be innocent. Some of them were not sure they were ready to do that.

But for now, they were supposed to elect a chief, someone who'd have an extra of half a vote.

“That's gonna be simple. We all know who is worthy to be a leader.” Sam announced.  
“No we don't.” Jane corrected him. “That's the point of the game, we don't know who the werewolves are and we can't say our role. It means anyone can be a werewolf and anyone can be the enemy. I suppose the werewolves will know who each other are after the first night, but today we are all strangers. Whoever we will vote for, we don't know anything about them. That's why we need to think about it. If we don't, we're gonna elect a werewolf and that would be the worst situation we might be in. So don't vote too fast.”

The others agreed. It made sense, yes. That's the first step, a step that seems innocent but might be decisive in the future. Every single one of their words, every single one of their decisions, might be used to kill them. It scared them. It wasn't the kind of fight they usually led. When the Avengers went on a mission, most of it consisted of punching. Here, there was no punching. It was a mental fight: analyzing, thinking, being cleverer than the guy next to you. The scientists and geniuses are gonna have an advantage, some of them thought. Tony, Bruce, Jane, Erik, Betty and even Loki... They were used to cogitate, it was their usual weapon.

“Loki might be a werewolf” Clint said with hatred in his voice. “You heard Wanda, it's our inner nature. If there is a guy whose insides are crook, it's him.”  
“Watch your words, my friend...” Thor started.  
“No Thor! Stop that! You're still trying to defend him after everything he has done? Controlling people's minds, attempting genocide, betraying you, none of this is enough for you to open your eyes? I'm sorry Thor, I know you love your brother but he's the most obvious werewolf of all time.”

Thor was about to respond but he didn't, seeing the others nodding with agreement. Everyone here had, at some point, been confronted by Loki's trickery. The fact the book was once his didn't help much and Loki himself didn't really try to defend himself. That's what worried Thor the most. If his brother didn't try to hoodwink the others, it was more concerning than everything else.

“Tony might also be a werewolf.”  
“P... Pepper? I thought you...” The engineer couldn’t believe she would turn against him.  
“I'm not saying you are. I'm saying you might be. You have darkness in you and you know that. You know that since Killian and his Extremis serum.”  
“That's what you told me yourself, Tony.” Bruce confirmed. “Plus, Ultron was very much like you and you remember how he was?”  
“You helped create Ultron! Does that mean you might be bad enough to be a werewolf?”  
“Excuse me, did you notice my darkness when we created Ultron or the first time you saw me go green?”

Tony didn't answer. He had said it to look innocent, not to accuse his best friend. Maybe he should apologize? He didn't know if he really wanted to, it was true after all. Bruce had been inhabited by the Hulk for years but the Hulk was only a part of Banner. Many people thought it was a complete different entity put inside Banner's body but Tony knew. The Hulk was part of him, a part he had hide for a long time but which had came back to save his life when needed.

“Okay, you shouldn't vote for Loki, Tony or Bruce, then. Anyone else who should be excluded from the candidates?” Wanda asked.  
“I think we can all agree Bucky must be excluded.”  
“I'm sorry Stark, I think you tried to say something but my bullshit shield was activated.”  
“Come on, Steve. You know what I mean. That guy is broken, Hill said so herself. He has spent almost 60 years as a Hydra weapon. I think at that point it doesn't matter he was brainwashed to do it.”

Steve shook his head. He couldn't believe Tony was saying this. Being broken didn't mean being bad, that was two different things and even if Bucky had done bad things when he had been under Hydra's control, he would have never chosen to do it by himself. Underneath, he was a good guy. Steve knew him enough to know that.

“I don't wanna hear more about that. This is what we're gonna do. It is already 1:00 am. It means the first night is not now but the next time the night will fall. The day end at 7:30 pm, more or less. We have 18 hours to choose who we're gonna vote for. Go to sleep, talk to the others, live as if it was any other day... We're meeting at 6:30 pm in the main living room. And, F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Close the building. I don't want any employee to be cursed because we were neglectful.”

The others hesitated but they finally agreed. It might be the best solution not to kill each other right now. They need time to understand clearly what they are facing and to focus on what is important. One by one, they started leaving the room. Some simply went to sleep. Others just went in a corner to think. But the atmosphere in Avengers Tower was worse than it had ever been.

* * *

 

“Follow me, I'll lead you to him.”

Maria didn't even wait for Steve to ask, she knew perfectly the first thing he was gonna do was ask to see Bucky. She led him to the stairs and went downstairs to the 76th floor. Every Avenger had their own floor for themself. Maria was the only one who had never used it. Le 76th was hers and Steve understood now that she did use it, only not for herself. That's where she had put Bucky, in the Avengers Tower, on a floor belonging to an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the last place someone would look for him and that's why it was clever. Maria had fooled both him and Hydra.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent knocked at her own door and a blond girl opened it. She looked surprised when she saw the captain.

“Agent Hill, with all due respect, I'm not sure it's a good idea. I told you he wasn't ready yet.”  
“I know, Sharon, but he learned it another way. And we need to talk to both of you.”  
“Just let me tell him then. You can't appear from nowhere like that, I'll warn him you're here.”

She went back into the room, not closing the door. Maria made a sign to Steve, warning him not to enter, not yet. Steve obeyed but with difficulty, he had a great urge to see his best friend, to hug him, to make sure he was fine. For a moment, he wondered if he might be forced to kill him. Bucky might not be on the side he is, after all. To win the game, to survive, would he be able to sacrifice his best friend?

“He's ready.” Sharon had come back and was standing at the frame of the door. “Well, ready is not exactly the correct term but he's accepted to see you. Come in.”

Steve entered the room and searched for Bucky with his eyes. His gaze finally found him, sitting on the sofa, rolled into a ball. He recognized the same long hair his friend already had during the Triskelion event, but his beard was a little more developed, yet well-maintained. For a moment he wondered if Bucky took care of it or if Sharon did it for him. Seing him there, with wet eyes and elusive look, he realized how bad he must be and that he must owe agent Carter a big debt. He slowly came near the sofa and sit down near him.

“Hey Buck.”

The Winter Soldier didn't answer but Steve could say by his breathing that he was hesitating. He tried to reassure him, with the softest voice as possible.

“I'm glad to see you. I've missed you since I woke up and even more since the last time. I've been looking for you, you know. I was afraid you might feel lost and I wanted to help you. I couldn't stand the idea of you being in bad shape, I had to help. Just like you always helped back in good old times. But apparently I'm a little late, you already found someone to do that. Are you alright here with Sharon?”

Bucky turned his head to Sharon. He didn't smile but his eyes expressed all the gratefulness he had for her. She smiled at him, a real smile, one who wanted to be sweet and reassuring. Bucky finally opened his mouth to speak. His voice was broken and sepulchral, as if he wasn't used to talking.

“She's the best. She reminds me of your Peggy, kick-ass skills included. I... I don't know what I would've done without her.”  
“Sounds very Carter, yeah. Taking care of us must run in the family. And you remember Peggy, that's good news. I'm glad you found someone to help you while I wasn't here.” Steve smiled with happiness to see him talk.  
“While you weren't here?” Bucky was suddenly more withdrawn. “What do you mean? She's not gonna leave me, is she?”

Steve bite his lower lip. Was she? He was not the one in charge here, if Maria wanted to give Sharon a new mission he won't be able to prevent it. But Sharon folded her arms, looking very determined.

“I'm not leaving. He still needs me. I'm not going anywhere until he's fully recovered. And even then, I'm gonna make sure he doesn't relapse. Sorry Buck, you're not gonna get rid of me soon.”

Bucky almost smiled. Steve could have missed it if he wasn't starring at him. Bucky really liked Sharon, maybe the same way Steve really liked Natasha or Maria. He had found another friend, just like him. They were not the only thing each other had anymore but it relieved Steve. They had each other and they had other friends. Nothing was gonna be stronger than their friendship, he knows that, but it's good to have other people to talk to. Now Bucky had Sharon and Steve. With both a new and an old friend, how could he not recover quickly?

“See, she's not going anywhere. We're all gonna be there for you Buck. Sharon, Maria and I are gonna make sure you're alright.”

Bucky smiled at him this time and Steve's heart accelerated a little. He had missed that smile, the smile of someone who's happy to see him. Steve himself was smiling. Maria had been right. The stories had helped Bucky remember who he was, he could see the former Bucky in the face and the eyes of the one he was facing. He wouldn't have smiled at him if he had still be the man who had saved him in the Potomac.

“But there's one thing... I felt strange a few minutes ago.” Bucky changed subject with concern. “Sharon told me she felt that too. We were there, we were talking and suddenly I... Suddenly I realized that deep down I am...”  
“Don't say it!” Maria interrupted curtly. “We all had these revelations but we can't tell anyone, it would be dangerous.”  
“Why? What happened?” Sharon asked, sharing a worried look with Bucky.

Steve and Maria did the same. It won't be easy to explain to them. But they had no other choice, both were also in the game so they must know what was going on. If they wanted to survive, they had no other choice.

* * *

 

“Told you.”  
“Don't start. I'm not the one who cast the spell, it's not karma.”  
“It's totally karma, sis', and it hass shitted on us the worst way ever.”

Wanda stood up, leaving the bed her brother occupied. It was obvious he wouldn't have been happy to hear about the curse but she expected at least some support. But no, all he did was blame her. He was half-joking of course, he always was, but it still hurt her. Because he might have been right, maybe bringing him back from the dead had turned fate against them and destiny had brought that situation. They still didn't know how the book ended in Tony's hand after all.

“Even if you're right, it doesn't change anything.”  
“It changes the darkness in you, Wanda. Pietro is right to worry. That makes you a little darker. It grows your chances to be a werewolf.” Bruce explained.

He was the only one Wanda had allowed to see Pietro. He was the closest they had for a medic and he was checking up on her brother, to be sure everything was okay. He was the first doctor Pietro had seen since his resurrection. The latter wasn't in great shape yet but it didn't prevent him from being angry at what doctor Banner said.

“Are you implying my sister might be one of the werewolves? She's not like that, she's a nice girl who talks and acts with her heart and-”  
“Whatever it takes to be a werewolf, I don't think Wanda has it.” Bruce interrupted him. “She brought you back with the purest love and the purest intention. But she used dark magic and the others might think she's a werewolf. As they can do the same with you because you've been dead. As they can do the same with me because I had the Hulk.”  
“And how can we be sure you're not a werewolf looking for my weak spot to eat me later?”  
“I trust him, Pietro.” Wanda informed him. “Banner has anger issue, sure. But he spent years learning to control it and when he accidentally unleashed the Hulk, he always had great remorse once brought back to normal. I... I really don't think he can be a werewolf.”

The speedster wasn't totally convinced but he trusted his sister. And if she trusted Banner, so would he. But he still doubted. It was a strange feeling, knowing he would always trust his sister but not the people she liked. It was almost like he didn't totally trusted her. Is that what the game wanted them to do? To turn against each other, even the ones they loved more than everything? He had no doubt Wanda was his soulmate. Not in a romantic way, they felt literally like their souls were linked together to death and it had been confirmed when Wanda had experienced her brother's death in Sokovia. Was he supposed, at some point, to kill his own soulmate?

“Okay, so we trust each other. That's something. We're a team, now. Just you two and me, no one else. If we want to survive, we'll need to think about who we want to eliminate, to decide on someone to vote for. But we can't all vote for the same person every time, it would be suspect. At least it will be when we'll started lynching people. But for now, let's start thinking about who we're gonna vote for today.” Bruce proposed.  
“Clearly not Stark.” Pietro immediately said with anger.  
“I wasn't thinking about him either. You got any idea?”  
“Captain America. If Cap has what it takes to be a werewolf, everyone can be one. He's always so nice, fighting for his ideals. He hasn't shown any weakness or darkness yet.”  
“Yes, and the first thing he did after knowing about the curse is going to see his brainwashed best friend who was Hydra's puppet and tried to kill him. If that isn't the act of a pure heart, I don't know what is.”  
“I'm also thinking about Clint.” Wanda announced to them. “He's never had any bad intention, nor any darkness that I could have felt when I had my powers. He's got a family and yet he spent his time saving the world. Plus he's so protective of his teammates and he encouraged me in the middle of the battle. He's too pure to be a werewolf.”  
“Your crush is showing, Wanda.”  
“Shut up, Pietro!”

Her face was totally red. She shouldn't have told him about her crush, she thought. Now he made fun of her about it, and about her crush on Vision too. He always joked by saying he had the choice between an old man or a robot as brother-in-law.

“Okay kids, back to the point.” Thankfully, Bruce was always cold-headed and ready to bring them back to Earth. “This is what I propose: Pietro and I will vote for Steve and Wanda will vote for Clint. I believe the two are among the less possible as werewolf and voting differently allows us not to reveal our alliance.”

Both of them nodded with agreement. At least they had already started to work together, even if it was only to choose a chief. But Pietro wasn't totally convinced about everyone's nature.

“And what if one of us turns out to be one of them?”  
“Then the other two are safer than the others, I guess. They're his allies and he can try to manipulate them. He can think it's helpful and keep them alive.”  
“Anyway, no one here is a wolf.” Wanda cut short.

The other two didn't say anything but they clearly wished to have her faith.

* * *

 

“I can't believe he was stupid enough to read that book out loud!”  
“Please, Pepper, calm down.” Jane sighed. It was now ten in the morning and the red-haired had been saying that since she woke up two hours before. “You know that's not gonna solve anything. We need to think about the chief we want to elect.”  
“It would be easier if we knew who not to elect.” Betty pointed out.

The three science girls, along with Darcy, were in the kitchen. They had just finished their breakfast but didn't want to go with the others. In the dining room next to the kitchen, Tony was in the doldrums, still pissed at himself to have put Pepper in danger. Thor and Selvig were whispering, the god explaining the nature of the book to the astrophysicist while keeping an eye on his brother who wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him or one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. directors. Vision was also sitting there, not saying a word. Since the curse had made him human, he was experimenting his first breakfast and it felt really weird. The atmosphere was too heavy there, that's why the girls preferred the kitchen.

“The question is: who can we trust? And the answer is: no one. So let's make a list of who we shouldn't.” Jane grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote all their names, ready to cross out the ones who couldn't be trusted. “Tony and Loki are totally out of question, we already talked about that. Bruce can't really be trusted either, with the hulking out and all.” She looked at Betty to ask her opinion and stroke out Bruce's name as she nodded. “I'm not a big fan of Fury, being a director of SHIELD must have had a great impact on him. Thor is a god of thunder and as much as I love him, he's sometimes as scary and dangerous as lightning. Natasha's been a KGB spy, and who knows what the did to her back there. Same goes for James Barnes. Selvig and Clint had a really bad period after Loki's mind control and they learned he was alive and with us just before the roles were given. It might have had an influence. The Maximoffs freak the hell out of me, one brought back from death and the other powerful enough to play like that with dark magic... Not to mention Coulson, he's also been dead and came back. Does any of you know Sharon Carter?” The others shook their head and Jane crossed out her name. “We'd better be careful then. And Vision's got the mind stone... I've been in contact with the reality stone long enough not to trust any of those gems. Now, the remaining names are ours, Maria's, Steve's and Sam's. Any question?”  
“Would you marry me, genius?”  
“If we survive, I might consider that, doctor Ross.”

The girls laughed a little after that. Jane had made a really good resume of their options. She'd been clever enough to think about everyone's situations and feelings and consider what might enter in game for them to be werewolves. But Darcy wasn't convinced. Something was missing in that analysis.

“What about us?” She finally ask. “Is there any of us who should be put aside?”  
“Well... I trust you, Darcy. You're my best friend and I know you don't have the right profile. You'd be more of a Cupid, maybe a scapegoat. Don't take it bad, I just think you're the most normal of all of us. Pepper is kinda resilient but it's just how she shows her will, and it has never made anyone dark or evil. And Betty... Same as Pepper but with the fact she can be quick to anger.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Don't worry, sweetheart, it won't interfere with our love story.” Jane smiled at Betty before going back to the point. “And then, there's me. I can't judge by myself but you're the one who know me best, Darcy. Do you think I have what it takes to be a werewolf?”  
“Yes.”

Jane's smile froze. She didn't expect that answer. She thought Darcy would be with her, she's her best friend after all. But no, she saw her as a potential enemy.

“Jane is the least possible!” Pepper rose up.  
“No she's not. I'm sorry Jane but you've changed. You've spent a few days in contact with an infinity stone. I don't know those things myself, but I've seen what it did in London and what the mind stone did to Erik, and what the Tesseract did in New York. I don't trust them and so I don't trust you. You've changed. Where's the shy and sweet science geek? You're always so serious now, and not to mention the former you would have never joked about marrying Betty like that. I mean, I know you're bisexual, you never told me but I had guessed. But joking like that, flirting like that, whether it's with a man or a woman, that's not you. That stone changed you and I'm afraid there might be more than the flirting. So yeah, sorry. I love you and all but you scare the hell out of me now.”

She stood up and went to the dining room, talking to Erik who was fixing Loki with some kind of scary look. Betty bit her lower lips and Pepper run her hand through her hair. Their alliance of four girls was finally an alliance of three girls. It wouldn't be such a big deal in normal situation but here, one vote can make the difference on whether you're gonna die or live. It let Jane thinking. Had she really changed that much? She'd just thought that all she'd been through had made her stronger and more confident, she'd never seen it as a bad thing and no one had talked to her like that.

“Don't listen to her. I'm sure you changed in a good way, not a bad one.” Betty comforted her, a hand on her shoulder. “She's just afraid and turning paranoid. I know you from Culver University, not as much as she does but I know you. I just see a more confident woman and that's okay, you can be more confident, it's a good thing actually. No one can blame you for finally being in good terms with yourself. You flirting with me is just a joke and jokes are good to calm down. If there's one thing I've learn from all those years studying the Hulk, it's that anger never help in that kind of situation. Being calm does. You're helping us getting our heads in the game.”  
“Yeah, you're like the leader of our alliance.” Pepper adds. “Able to focus and still relaxing us. That's awesome actually.”

Jane had a little smile but inside that smile was bigger. Here she was. She'd made them trusting her. She didn't know where it's gonna lead her but at least she now had an influence in one of the groupd. She'd recruit Maria Hill or Natasha Romanoff too but they were gonna be a little more difficult to convinced, and they might already had their own alliance, one with Rogers and the other with Barton. But it's okay. Stark would probably follow Pepper and Betty might be able to convince Bruce to follow her opinions. Jane herself could try with Thor but with the God of Lies around him it might be a little difficult. Loki was called the Silver Tongue for a reason. But she would try. The most important was to survive. She's sure she still had many things to bring to Science. She was gonna survive. She needed to.

* * *

 

“Okay, Loki, I'm asking this for the last time: why?”

The Norse god kept smiling at the directors of S.H.I.E.L.D., not saying a word to them. They wanted to know why he had brought that book to Stark and he was not ready to tell them. Or actually, he was ready but he wanted to play with them a little first. Seeing them trying to figure this out was really entertaining. They kept getting angrier and angrier and he really enjoyed it. And he had a question too. Well, actually he had more than one question but one was more important than the others.

He knew the human called Phil Coulson was alive before coming in the tower that day. He had been warned by his daughter when he had payed her a visit. Hela was angry, she had lost one the soul she was supposed to rule two years before and she had just lost another. Phil Coulson and Pietro Maximoff had been brought back to life, wrested from her kingdom. She was the Queen of Dead who couldn't keep the dead in her realm. If Asgard had learned that, she would have been mocked. Loki couldn't stand that. He wasn't a bad father, he loved every single one of his children but they were always wrested from him, usually by Odin.

“Tell me, Director Fury... What kind of dark magic have you summoned to bring back your favorite pet?”  
“One you can't understand. Science.”  
“I do understand a lot about science actually, I've read many books about it. One of my favorite was a fiction about a man who created life from death. He made a creature that was so ugly he rejected him and he made him suffer. At the end he understood that he was the monster.”  
“Don't try to make me feel ashamed, a lot of people tried that after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. I think I'm immune, by now.”

That's how the world worked after all. Once they had been able to come to term with his fake death, people, especially politics, had left the mourning hypocrisies for the blaming. He was the director, he should have seen Hydra coming. They always wanted a responsible party even when there wasn't any and this time it had been him. It was always simpler to blame the dead man, he was totally unable to defend himself.

“The only thing you need to know is that I succeeded at bringing him back to life. If I'm powerful enough to do that, what will I be able to do to you?”  
“I'm a god, you pitiful human. Your threats won't scare me. But I'm feeling generous today so I'm gonna tell you.”

Phil, who had been standing in a corner of the room the whole time, came closer to sit near Loki.

“We're listening.”  
“I hate you humans. All of you. No exception. I hate the way you think you can rule the world with your little organizations. I hate the way you claim to be free while you're tangled in so many laws, rules and procedures you can barely do something without being blamed for that. I hate the way you always think Earth is the most important planet of the whole galaxy, or the way you think only Earth is attacked that often by villains and aliens. I hate the way you use your science as if you knew everything when you barely know how your own planet works. I hate the way all of you want to be unique and special when the big majority of you are just like everyone else and will live a whole life of disappointment. I hate the way the human race thinks, or talks, or acts, or just is. I've seen many people in the galaxy and read about far more. But of all the ones I know about, you are by far the most stupid, self-centered, hypocritical and insignificant of them all! And you Avengers are the worst.”

Loki kept quiet for a minute but the look in his eyes showed all the hate he felt toward them. He despised them and both the former and the actual director of S.H.I.E.L.D. could see it. Moreover, he was not wrong. The human race was like that. But was it really a reason to condemn it all? And if that was so, why were the Avengers and their friends the only one cursed?

“But you didn't cursed the whole world. You cursed us.” Phil pointed out with his usual calm voice.  
“Almost three years ago, I've tried to conquer the world. I wanted to free the human race from itself. If I could have done it with humans, I could have done it with Asgard too. The æsir aren't much better than humans. Odin's reign made them stagnate, they haven't socially evolved for millenniums and millenniums. But you defeated me and now I'm nothing but a war criminal, me who only wanted to prevent Thor's disastrous future reign. You think you're able to decide what is or isn't good. You fight when you might not be needed. You see yourself as lawyer, judge and executioner. But you're not. You're unable to see things clearly. You claim to be heroes but you're just blind men hitting things randomly with their white stick, not giving a shit who you really touch.”  
“And you would have been a better leader? You talk about us but that's also how you wanted to act.”  
“Maybe I wouldn't have been a perfect king. No one is, anyway. But I would have make a better job than all of you. Take Ultron for example. I've watch the events from Asgard. You've defeated him, good, big party, congrats and all. But who were the ones who played gods, trying to create a soul from a weapon I used to cause chaos? Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. They created Ultron, and the mind stone used their mind patterns to make his. And yet they're free. They almost condemned Earth but no one blamed them, no one punished them. How can that be acceptable? I would have punished them severely for playing with unknown artifacts as if it had been toys. You didn't and here we are. I gave Stark a magical book and he did it again. Those who don't learn from history are fated to repeat it. Looks like we're in the replay, now.”

Fury and Coulson looked at each other. Once again Loki's not wrong. They knew Loki was a master manipulator and that's why they were actively thinking about what he was saying, dissecting every single one of his arguments. But they had to face the truth: he was right. His methods weren't, of course, you don't curse people to death only to teach them something, but the arguments taken alone were absolutely right. They had let Stark do what he wanted and they kicked themselves now.

But they weren't totally convinced. They thought exactly the same, after all one had trained the other, so they had almost the same way to think. The difference was more in the way they handled the problem once they had analyzed it.

“If you wanted to rule Earth after our death, why are you cursed too?” Phil asked, not understanding the point.  
“That's the unexpected part. I didn't want to be in the game. I took lieutenant-colonel Rhodes' appearance to see you killing each other but I had a magical shield around me to protect me and prevent me from being brought in the game. I underestimated the curse. Turns out it's more powerful than I am. But at least I'm in the best place to see you kill each other.”  
“You might die too. After everything that happened, you might even be the first one to die.”  
“It would be too obvious. The game don't do obvious things. It tries to trick you. The game wants the werewolves to win. The purpose is not for either the wolves or the villagers to survive. It's for the villagers not to let the wolves win.”

* * *

 

Clint was the last one to arrive in the living room. He had spent the whole day talking with Natasha about how he was gonna tell Laura he wasn't going to come home that day, nor the next days. The harder part being to tell her about the curse that might have him killed. Natasha thought his wife was brave enough to hear it directly and that beating about the bush would have make it even worse. Clint, in contrary, wanted to spare her a little but he had finally listened to his best friend and told her everything. There had been a lot of crying and almost as much sweet words. She was used to being far from her husband while he was risking his life but this time it was different. He was fighting his friends and she knew him enough to be sure it would be hard for him, if not impossible, to sacrifice them. The odds were bad, this time. He had put his wife's phone number on the notice board in the kitchen, near the cleaning planing. The secret wasn't important anymore. If Nat died before him, he wanted someone, anyone, to call Laura and tell her what had happen to him, he didn't want her to live with useless hope until the end of the game. It would be cruel.

When he arrived in the room, his eyes wet after having talked to his children maybe for the last time, Steve asked for silence. He had turned into a temporary chief for the group, as the leader of both first and new teams of Avengers. He crossed his arms and begun to say:

“Fine, we're all here now. It's time for us to vote. But first, I suggest you propose some candidate, to make it easier. We're twenty-one and just asking every name would be long and useless. So, who wants to propose someone?”

Sam was the first one to stand up from the sofa he was sitting on. He had been quiet the whole day, but it looked like it was time for him to bite the bullet. Of all people here, except of course Pepper, Jane and Betty, he was the most normal. More than everything, he might have been even less used to all that than them. After all, Pepper had had the Extremis serum in her blood, Jane had been dealing with Asgardian magic since she met Thor and Betty had literally dated a green rage monster. All Sam had done so far was dealing with traitors spies and looking for a missing person. Magic and science monsters weren't his everyday and being struck by a curse... that was new and as good as he was to adapt to a situation, this one needed some time for him to come to terms with it. But when it came to elect a chief? Well, then he was totally sure of who he wanted leading him.

“I propose Steve. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who wanted to propose him. He's the Avengers leader so we know he's good when it comes to give orders. He's got a military background, he's tough, he's smart. And I'm damn sure no one here can deny he's the nicest man they've ever met. He told me once that the serum was supposed to increase the defects as much as the qualities. And the truth is: I haven't seen any defects yet. We all know how he is, he all know what he's worth. And I'm sure we all know he's gonna be the best chief we can wish for.”

Many of them nodded with agreement. Captain America was in fact the first choice that came in mind. But some others doubted. Was it because he was the first choice that he was the smart one? They had in fact never seen his dark side but was it really because he didn't have one? Or was it because he hadn't shown it yet? Phil was the next one to speak, at everyone's surprise. They thought such a great Captain America fan would want to vote for him.

“I think Maria would be a better choice. As far as Bucky is in the game, Steve will focus more on saving him than on leading us. We need someone who wouldn't have a personal interest in the game, who's got a strong military history, who's good at leadership and who's been a reliable ally for many years. And that description correspond to Maria. She's been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent since she's 25 and she's never failed us. I truly think she deserves the title.”

Maria smiled to him. She'd always liked Phil, maybe because Fury had been their S.O., or because she had been his second in command and Coulson his right-hand man. They'd became close friends really fast and were a good pair when needed. Of course, there had been rumors about them being lovers, there always were rumors when a woman was in a powerful position. The truth is that they had just became best friends. They had lost the link after Phil's death, but they still trusted each other. At least that's what Maria wanted him to think. After all the trouble the T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol had gave them, she thought there was a chance he was a werewolf. A chance wasn't enough for her to trust him when her life was in danger.

“You're a good candidate too, Phil. As the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D., member of the Avengers and good agent. And you died on duty, trying to prevent the world's destruction. I know you better than anyone and the others know you too. You're good for the job.” Fury pointed out from the chair he was sitting on.

The others were less convinced than they were for the other two. Sure, Phil had many qualities to be a chief, but as Fury stated he had been dead. They didn't know that much about magic and resurrection but wasn't bringing someone back from the dead the darkest magic of all? Maybe they should have called Doctor Strange, after all. He couldn't enter the tower without being part of the game but he could at least give them some advices. They should do that the day after, Fury thought. But now wasn't the moment to think about it.

“Pepper is a powerful CEO and has a great will. She's taken care of me for the past ten years, which must be something considering the pain in the ass I can be. And I'm sure everyone here understand that she can't be a werewolf, she's too nice and too normal for that.”

No one said a word but Pepper wasn't someone they had thought about. She was a good businesswoman but it had nothing to do with what they were facing now. Dealing with employees and other companies was not the same as dealing with magic and super villains. Wanda changed the subject by proposing her own candidate:

“Clint would be good. He's not always serious but I don't think we need a chief who's gonna spoil the mood, we're already depressed enough. He's a great agent and he loves each one of us as if we were part of his family. And considering he's a father, he knows how to handle a bunch of people arguing for absolutely no reason.”

Clint is surprised by that nomination but the look Maria gives him prevents him from saying anything. He was about to say he was to dumb to be a chief. He wasn't able to be serious and he always did or said the dumb thing, or at least that's what he wanted them to believe. But Maria knew. Even Natasha didn't know completely how much he played the fool, even Laura was conned by his acting sometimes. But Maria had always knew, strangely. She had guessed since day one he was pretending. And here she was clearly telling him not to play that card again, telling him to be who he really is if he happens to be chief.

“Fine.” Steve finally said after a few minutes of silence. “No one else?” No one proposed anyone, there were no more candidates. “Okay, whoever wants Clint to be chief rise their hand.”

Wanda obviously did, as she had decided with Bruce and Pietro earlier that day. Another hand rose but this one surprised everyone. Loki was there, a smile on his face, voting for Clint to be chief. Steve told everyone to remain silent during the vote but many had questions for the god of mischief. Clint wasn't one of them, he knew why. Besides Maria, only one person knew that deep down he was a smart guy playing the fool. Loki had been in his mind for a few days but it was enough for him to learn who Hawkeye really was. As he must have learned about his wife, Clint realized, and yet he didn't do anything to them.

“Two votes for Clint. Now who wants Maria as a chief?”

This time, more hands rose. Pepper, Betty and Jane had chosen to vote for her. She wasn't in their alliance but voting for her would be a good way to drag her in. Plus she was normal and competent. Phil also rose his hand as he had been the one to propose her. Sharon did the same, she trusted Maria. She had been her partner for some missions, and she had been under her commandment too. She knew what she was worth. Finally, Steve voted for her too, which didn't surprise anyone. They had always shared a good relationship.

“Two votes for Clint, six for Maria. Maria wins for now. Who votes for Pepper?”

Only one hand rose. Tony wanted his Pepper to lead them, he thought that if she would be safer is she had half a vote more than the others. But apparently he was the only one to worry about that, even the two girls in her alliance didn't vote for her. Did she at least lead that little group? It would totally be possible but from what he had seen, Jane Foster was the head of it. He didn't like that. Pepper was better, smarter and more competent as a leader, whether is was to be chief of the tower or chief of her group.

“Maria still wins. People voting for Phil, raise your hand.”

Fury did immediately. He could understand why those people were voting for Maria rather than Coulson. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had been brought back for the dead and most of those present had spent more time with Maria than with Phil. He himself had thought about her when he had to chose a successor as director. They were both as skilled as the other but Coulson was older and had been in S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long time, more than Maria. That's also what made Erik and Darcy vote for him. They had seen him leading a team in New Mexico and they knew him. All that made them more confident in Coulson.

“Three votes. Maria's winning again. Last one then, who votes for me?”

Many hands rose at once. Bucky's, Sam's and Maria's were the fastest. Pietro and Bruce didn't hesitate much either. Thor had chosen him too, he thought Steve's quality as a leader had nothing left to prove. Natasha and Clint, probably by common consent, also voted for him for the same reason. Vision had hesitated but he voted for him too, rather than not voting at all as he had thought at first. He had to agree Steve had all the qualities but he doubted a little.

“Six votes for Maria, nine for me. Okay then, thanks guys. I hope I'll be as good as I am on the battlefield.” Steve said with gratitude before giving his first orders: “For tonight... we'll try to avoid a death. Tony's technology has already prevented his control by Loki's scepter. So we're gonna eat. And we're gonna go to bed. No one leave their room before the sunrise. F.R.I.D.A.Y., you close everything.”  
“Copy that, sir!” The A.I. answered with her usual childlike joy.

Steve declared it was time to eat and the group disbanded for the night.

* * *

 

The night had finally fallen. The moon was high in the sky but no one was looking at it in Stark Tower. They all had thought it'd be tough to sleep that night but everyone was asleep, even those who had trouble to fall asleep even before the events were fast asleep. Maybe it was part of the curse, Cupid thought as they walked in the corridor. They were the only one who didn't sleep. They perfectly know why, they had to chose two lovers. They perfectly knew who they were gonna link. For a while, they had been wondering if something was going on between those two. Then they had caught the looks, the words. Maybe they were wrong, maybe there was nothing special. But they wanted to believe those two were soulmates. So they went to the first bedroom and the magic applied. They didn't really know how they had done this but it wasn't important. That was just who they were. They did the same with the second one and they returned to their bed, happy of what they had done. The first lover woke up and went to the bedroom of their beloved. The other half of their soul smiled and they laughed a little. Whoever was Cupid, they had chosen good because there was no question, no surprise, just two people discovering their new love before going back to bed.

The seer then woke up. They already knew whose nature they want to discover. They knew from the moment their nature was revealed. There was no one else they could check first, or maybe... Yes, maybe there were some other. People they were also close with, people that looked suspicious... But this one was more important. So they went to the lab were the group had left the book on the morning. They browsed the page before stopping on the one they're interested in. They put their hand on it and suddenly they knew. They knew everything about that villager's nature and about why that nature was chosen. They smiled with relief and put the book back on the table. They knew they could trust that person. Now that it was for sure, they went back to sleep and maybe have dreams of victory.

The savior was unable to fall asleep. They didn't hear anything in the night but they were almost certain F.R.I.D.A.Y. would be unable to fight the curse and the doors won't remain closed. It was confirmed when they were able to leave their room and go to the one of the person the wanted to protect. They sat on the bed to watch that person while they were sleeping. They watched them and thought about how innocent they looked. The savior knew they were a delicate person but it was even more obvious then. They passed their hand above the sleeping one, giving them their blessing. They smile. No werewolf would be able to hurt them that night.

Once the savior was back in their room, the first werewolf left their own room, going to the main living room. The second one came shortly after and couldn't help themself laughing. The first one also laughed and they hugged happy to see each other. When the third one come in the room, the little group was really happy to see each other. They talk and the other two come, leading to even more laughs. They were a good team. And they were sure to have a chance. They sat on the sofas and talked for a good moment, explaining what made them what they were and thinking about who to kill. Finally, one of them proposed something that pleased them all. They all turned into their real form and went to the room of the chosen one. The victim woke up but they didn't care, they could make all the noise they want, the curse would keep the others asleep.

When the witch woke up, they knew something was wrong. Someone had died that night, it was an absolute certainty. They took the two potions they had hidden somewhere in the room before going to the lab to discover who had been killed. They weren’t surprised F.R.I.D.A.Y. let them go anywhere in the tower, the curse must have been controlling her as well. They opened the book and looked at each villager's page before finding the one of the dead. The page was changing. It didn't reveal the villager's inner nature, there was now not only a name but a portrait as well. The role would probably come after the witch had come. They took a moment of reflection but they finally took both potions and went back to their bed. Tonight, no one would be saved from the werewolves.

The raven wasn't sure if something had occurred that night. Maybe they worried too much but who knows? There was a chance nothing happened but a chance is just that: a chance. Not a certainty. And they had learned not to consider a possibility to be a fact. So they had to curse someone. But who deserved two have their two bonus votes? They thought of a certain person at first but it was unfair. That person didn't do anything against them, things had just happened. So for this time they chose someone else. Someone who might deserve a little more, if not a lot more. They went to their target's bedroom and put a finger on their wrist. The tattoo of a little raven printed itself on the skin. They smiled, understanding their curse take a form that corresponded to them: discreet but still visible. They returned to their room with the feeling they did good.

The Pied Piper looked at the flute they had found in their bedroom. They were happy the person who shared the floor with them didn't found it. What would they have thought? The Pied Piper was supposed to captivate them in order to win. If they wanted to survive, they'd do it alone. They looked at the other person, still sleeping. Why Pied Piper? Why such a lonely role when they had that person? Yet it seemed so obvious... They shook their head to refocus and started to play. The person in the bed woke up but was unable to see who captivated them. They were led to the main living room where the other captivated was. The two shared a look. They started to think but the Pied Piper stopped playing and the two came back to bed, led by the curse. The Pied Piper smiled a little. Two captivated, eighteen left.

The wild child knew who they wanted as a model. It had been obvious all along. Who else would they use as a model? The moment they woke up, they ran to their future model's room. They were still asleep but waking them up wasn't hard for the wild child. As soon as the model saw them, they understood. Both smiled and the chosen one thanked the other. They were honored to be the child's model. They shared a hug and the magic of the curse linked them. The fate of the child was now dependent of the other one's.

The night was now silent again. Everyone had done what they were supposed to do. They didn't want to but they did. The game master giggled. All her little puppets had played their part, the curse was stronger now. And it won't stop until one of the group was totally dead.

* * *

 

F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice was different when she woke them up. She wasn't supposed to do wake them up and it looked like she was happy to play that loud music. She laughed, even Tony had never heard her laugh. He wasn't even sure such a young A.I. could, J.A.R.V.I.S. had had his first laugh when he was ten years old. And that laugh? It was scary. As were the words she said, still with her innocent and amused voice:

“Hello, everyone. We're Sunday September, 27th and it's 08:45 am. Outside, the weather is starting to be chilly but don't worry you're not going anywhere. You were twenty one yesterday night and, Jesus! you're only 20 today! Oops, looks like someone was eaten last night. Have a nice day, Avengers.”

A deathly silence fell on the Tower and everyone started to freak out. One question was in everyone's mind: who did they lose?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As last time, I don't know when the next chapter will come but my beta has already started to correct it. I'm gonna try to be almost at the end of chapter 5 when I post it, but it can take some time with Christmas and New Year coming.
> 
> If you start to have some ideas about who's got which inner nature, don't hesitate to leave a comment, nor to leave a feedback. Remember that if many people discover a werewolf, it gives an advantage to the villagers, and the other way around. You can still find me on Tumblr under the name @lunatic-analiila. You can also leave feedbacks and questions there.


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